Blackhawks skin ’Rabbits with 35-point second half

PEA RIDGE 49, LONOKE 13

PEA RIDGE — The transition to the Class 5A ranks will have to wait at least another week for Pea Ridge’s football team.

The Blackhawks erupted for 35 second-half points Friday night and reserved another week in the Class 4A state playoffs with a 49-13 firstround victory over Lonoke at Blackhawk Stadium.

Pea Ridge (7-4) not only earns another playoff game, but it will get to play the game at home against Star City, which won handily at Batesville Southside to advance.

“Our kids persevered and went through some stuff during the course of the game,” Blackhawks coach Stephen Neal said. “We finally pulled away with it, and it makes us feel good.

“Last year, at this time, we were on this field and feeling pretty bad, pretty disgusted after losing in the first round. This was a nice way to celebrate what these seniors had done.”

Pea Ridge, which moves up to Class 5A next season, had a 14-7 halftime lead and held on to it through half of the third quarter, but it just took 18 seconds for the Blackhawks to begin the blowout. Quarterback Tate Busey, whose 9-yard touchdown run in the second quarter put Pea Ridge ahead, did it again when he kept the ball and scampered 62 yards for the score with 5 minutes, 19 seconds left in the third quarter.

On Lonoke’s first offensive play following the kickoff, sophomore quarterback Spencer Pepper rolled to his right and tried a pass toward the left sideline. Hunter Rains, in only his second game at cornerback, foiled that strategy with an interception, and his 55-yard return for a score helped extend Pea Ridge’s lead to 28-13 with 5:01 left in the third quarter.

“I almost took the post, but I barely saw the wheel,” Rains said. “So I started to move back toward the sideline, and it worked out for me. I got a little bit of elevation out there. I’ve got some hops.

“I never did think I was going to get an interception, to be honest. It just went into my hands.”

Lonoke (6-5) did make a move moments later when Anthony Parks ran 83 yards for a touchdown and cut Pea Ridge’s lead to 28-13 less than a minute later. The Jackrabbits then recovered an onside kick, but the threat ended when Joe

Adams intercepted a Pepper pass at the Pea Ridge 28 three plays later.

Busey and Rains continued the runway when they connected with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 9:52 remaining. Pea Ridge added a second defensive touchdown when Samual Tillman stripped the ball and ran 5 yards for the score, then Luis Reyes added a 1-yard touchdown run and forced the running clock for the final 1:47.

“We never lost our focus,” Neal said. “We kept playing the way we are capable of playing and was finally able to pull away from them. Our defense has played well all season long, and that’s what they did against a dangerous football team. It’s nice to have another playoff game and get to play it at home.”

FOUR DOWNS

• Pea Ridge improves its playoff record to 8-3 with Neal coaching the past four seasons. • Lonoke took a 7-0 lead on Pepper’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Markiel White, but Pea Ridge countered it 25 seconds later on Busey’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Ralph. • Lonoke’s head coach, Harry Wright, was an assistant under Bryan Pratt at Bentonville West before taking the Jackrabbits’ job.

• Pea Ridge hosts Star City, the No. 4 seed from the 4A-8 Conference, in next week’s second-round game after the Bulldogs won 47-20 at Batesville Southside, the second seed from the 4A-2 Conference.